AILSA CHANG, HOST:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will pause nonurgent vehicle stops after two deadly shootings in less than one week. That's according to the office of independent Maine Senator Angus King. But there are still many unresolved questions in Maine today, where an ICE officer shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian national who was driving near his home. For more, we're joined now by Carol Bousquet of Maine Public. Hi, Carol.
CAROL BOUSQUET, BYLINE: Hi.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so it's been about a day and a half since this happened. Can you just go back a bit and tell us more about what unfolded?
BOUSQUET: Yes. It was about 7 o'clock yesterday morning, and Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero was leaving his home for work when two plain clothes officers ran alongside his car trying to get him to stop. When he didn't, an ICE officer shot him through the windshield and alleged that Duran Guerrero was using his vehicle to flee and would have run him down. Duran Guerrero died on the scene. Then, late in the day, we learned that the agents were searching for a man who had been ordered removed from the country, but Guerrero was not the man they were looking for.
CHANG: He was not the man. OK. And we heard from independent Senator Angus King within hours of the shooting about how this was a botched operation...
BOUSQUET: That's right.
CHANG: ...How the officers were not wearing body cameras.
BOUSQUET: Right.
CHANG: What is the other senator in Maine, Republican Susan Collins, saying so far about all of this?
BOUSQUET: Well, it took her a while to weigh in on this fatal shooting. She first announced about 10 hours after the incident that the Department of Homeland Security and FBI would take over the investigation. And then this morning, she made the announcement about ceasing nonurgent vehicle stops. And she is concerned about the body cameras. She said it was unfortunate they weren't wearing them, especially as she has secured millions of dollars to expand that program, and she alleges that the government shutdown delayed the implementation of the expanded program.
She's up for reelection and is now the focus of protests since the shooting because of her votes to fund ICE. And just hours after yesterday's shooting, hundreds of protesters gathered in Biddeford, and then in the evening for a vigil to remember Duran Guerrero, chanting and singing songs and lighting candles. One of the people at the vigil was Anne Marie Cabral (ph) of Kennebunkport who was angry that officers still fail to wear body cameras.
ANNE MARIE CABRAL: And why aren't there body cams? Why is this happening? Look, it is like Nazis.
BOUSQUET: Lara (ph) of Waterboro, who asked us not to use her last name because she didn't want the federal government to know who she was, says Mainers need to rally around people of color.
LARA: Well, where's the due process? You know, where's the accountability? I'm seeing cover-up after cover-up after cover-up, especially in our state, for as many people to come out as possible.
CHANG: Well, what are law enforcement officials saying so far?
BOUSQUET: Well, today is just barely a day after the event, so they're not saying...
CHANG: Sure.
BOUSQUET: ...Much about the investigation. But Senator King wants an independent investigation that is fast-tracked to ensure transparency and clarity. And Biddeford's Mayor Liam LaFountain wants the same. And he expects our congressional delegation to remain vigilant and keep the residents of Maine in mind as they work with the attorney general and alongside the FBI.
CHANG: All right.
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LIAM LAFOUNTAIN: There's a lot of divisiveness in our country right now, a lot of different people who people trust. And I trust Maine State Police to be part of this investigation, to provide the thorough, transparent investigation findings of facts that we need.
CHANG: All right. That is Maine Public's Carol Bousquet in Portland, Maine. Thank you, Carol.
BOUSQUET: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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